Guatemala 7/30/2017

Sunday 7/30/2017 - Visiting Ecuador with Paulina and Eddy

Today we left for our respective journeys: the Tolers would be going back to Boston. Paulina, Eddy, Craig, and I were on our way to Ecuador to visit our compadres there. Humberto drove us to the airport in his van, and Aracely came along for the ride. We dropped Paola off at nursing school as we passed through Solola. We are so proud of this young lady, who is working hard to achieve her dreams!

We stopped at Katok (a popular restaurant along the Panamerican Highway in Chimaltenango) to use the rest room. The restaurant is in the style of a hacienda. A woman shaped and cooked blue corn tortillas, pork roasted on the spit, and the smell of coffee permeated the air. Some of us got cups of coffee, and Craig and I bought some green chili picante sauce, which we tucked into our checked bags to take to Ecuador with us.

As we approached Guatemala City, we could see puffs of white smoke and black ash emanating from Volcan Fuego, the most volcanic activity we have witnessed firsthand in all the years we have come here.

We got to La Aurora International airport at around 10 a.m. and said goodbye to Humberto and Aracely. We knew that Aracely wished that she could come with us. The year before, we had taken her and Vanesa on the same trip. She was our first godchild, so we wanted to make sure to take her first. Now it was our second godchild's turn.

We know that it was difficult for Paulina to say goodbye to the family. It would be the longest she has been away from them by far. But they are in good hands, and she was also looking forward to a vacation.

We parted ways with the Tolers and checked in at our respective airlines. Then we reunited in the food court for lunch. Craig, Paulina, Eddy, and I ate at Pollo Campero. Eddy was excited to get a small stuffed polar bear in his kid's meal. We all chatted; recalling the fun we had over the past week and Eddy looking forward to his first plane ride.

Kevin and Jenn's flight was only about 10 minutes earlier than ours, so we all proceeded to security together. A power glitch caused the security scanner to reboot and we went from the front of the line at one machine to the end of the line at the second. And then we still had to go through the long immigration line. We suddenly went from having an abundance of time to being rushed.

We got to our gate and said goodbye to Kevin, Jenn, and the girls as they headed off to Boston "via Miami." We boarded our flight with Paulina and Eddy. Vanesa and Aracely had gotten to visit the cockpit on their trip, and Eddy whispered to us, "I know you have a surprise for me when we get on the plane. With the pilot!" We explained to him that we were very lucky last time, but that we can't guarantee that it will happen this time. But I vowed to do my best.

After talking to several pilots at the gate (who turned out not to be our pilots, rather deadheading on the flight), we boarded the plane. I asked the flight attendant if there was any way that our godson could visit the cockpit on his first ever flight. The pilot granted permission, giving a big thumbs-up.

I got a photo of Eddy with the pilot in the cockpit, followed by Paulina. We are so grateful to the Avianca flight crew; it was a very memorable and special first flight for them!

The first flight, to San Salvador, El Salvador, was only 35 minutes long. It was a perfect first flight. Eddy was so excited! He had mentioned "I hope that it doesn't rain when we take off," an obvious reference to the video of Aracely and Vanesa's trip, where raindrops pelt the plane windows as we take off from Guatemala City. But the weather was clear today. He got settled in his seat with his new stuffed polar bear and his toy Russian tank, and excitedly looked out the window.

Eddy's eyes were wide as we took off. Paulina said that the clouds looked like cotton candy, and Eddy enjoyed seeing the tiny houses and cars as we descended into the green lushness of San Salvador. The landing was smooth, and soon we were disembarking from the plane; Eddy and Paulina's first time in a foreign country.

As we walked up the jet bridge, I pointed out the suitcases being unloaded from the plane. "That's my bag!" Eddy said. We assumed he was mistaken, but we looked and saw that indeed it was his bag! So our luggage has made it this far!

Coordinating our flights so that we left Guatemala at the same time as Kevin and Jenn meant that we would have a long layover in El Salvador...8 hours long, to be exact. The airport terminal is rather unusual in that it is just a single long corridor lined with shops and cafes.

We decided to stop at The Coffee Cup, a comfortable cafe with free wi-fi. Craig and I got vanilla coffee frappes and flan. Eddy and Paulina got snacks and drinks. Nothing like getting wired in an enclosed space with eight hours to kill! We were all a bit jittery and ready to continue on to our final destination.

I posted photos from the flight on Facebook. We bought more snacks. We had come prepared to try to entertain Eddy during the layover, and we gave him an activity book. He worked through the whole thing in the first hour. "Is it time to go yet?" I had a coloring book as well, and I went for a walk to a bookshop to buy some colored pencils. Eddy colored.

Some other patrons had ordered a latte, and the froth was fashioned into the image of an adorable bear. We couldn't resist asking to take a look after observing their delighted reactions.

The Coffee Cup staff were very nice, and didn't seem to mind at all that we spent 7 hours there. We bought some pizza slices before heading to our gate. Paulina's phone needed to be charged, so Eddy camped out next to an outlet to guard it.

Eddy was such an old pro at flying now that he sauntered off toward the jet bridge several steps ahead of us confidently. We got settled into our seats, which were dispersed between three consecutive rows on the starboard side of the plane. Eddy and Paulina were together, Craig was directly in front of them, and I was directly behind them. As long as Eddy wasn't sitting alone, it wasn't a problem.

Eddy put on his headphones and was immediately absorbed playing video games on the seatback TV. I read about half of my Popol Vuh (Kiche Mayan bible) that I had purchased in Chichicastenango.

The man sitting next to Paulina disappeared partway through the flight. After a while I realized he must have found another seat, so I moved up into his empty aisle seat. When the drink cart came along, Paulina ordered a beer. She was delighted to find out that it was free, and she toasted her husband (at home with the kids) with a heart-felt "Salud, Humberto!" as she cracked it open. We were given a choice of pasta or beef for dinner, and Eddy seemed to find it to be a novelty to eat on the plane.

Eddy enjoyed viewing the lights of Ecuador through the window as we approached the Mariscal Sucre airport. We landed after three hours in the air. By the time we got through the immigration line, our luggage was already waiting for us on the carousel. We collected it and Eddy pushed the luggage cart as we exited the secure area of the airport.

Rosa, Antonio, Sisa, Yupanqui, Shina, and Rolando were waiting for us as we emerged. It was 12:45 a.m., and we appreciate that they all came at that late hour! We hadn't realized that we would have the pleasure of seeing Rolando on this trip. He is back in Ecuador visiting from Chile. Unfortunately, Aida (the kids' mother) was not able to accompany him. They all hugged us and were excited to meet Eddy and Paulina. Yupanqui was happy to have a new "brother" to play with, since last time both visiting kids had been girls.

We all piled into the van. Though the kids were excited by our arrival, the late hour soon caught up with them, and they were soon lulled to sleep by the ride. Our van driver made record time on the empty roads and we arrived at the house in Morochos at around 2:30 a.m.

We got Paulina and Eddy settled in the right-hand unit of the guest house. We made sure that they had bottled water and enough warm blankets. The night-time temperature here never reaches freezing, but it is considerably colder than Guatemala. It is even colder than it was when Aracely and Vanesa visited last year!

We got settled into our casita, unpacking some of the things that we store there permanently. We were delighted to find our bath towels fashioned into peacocks on our bed. On the head of each one was a fresh flower. We were all in bed by 3 o'clock a.m.